Division titles. Wild cards. A No. 1 seed and first-round bye.
With Week 17 upon us, the NFC playoff picture is almost complete—but there is still plenty left to decide in the final week of the AI Maddeness regular season.
Four teams have already secured postseason berths. But the NFC East is still unsettled, the top seed is up for grabs, and three teams are fighting for the final two wild-card spots.
In other words: there is still plenty of Madden football left to play.
The Teams That Are Already In
Let’s start with what we know.
The Green Bay Packers have already locked up their division and will enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, regardless of what happens in Week 17.
The St. Louis Rams have also clinched their division. At 11–4, however, their season is far from settled. St. Louis still has a shot at the No. 1 seed and the coveted first-round bye.
And then there’s the NFC East.
That’s where things get interesting.
The Dallas Cowboys currently sit atop the division at 11–4, but Washington is right behind them at 10–5. Both teams have made the playoffs, but only one can walk away with the NFC East crown.
Washington’s path is just as clear: beat Arizona and hope Dallas loses to Tennessee. If both happen, Washington jumps the Cowboys on the division-record tiebreaker and steals the NFC East title in the final week. A Washington loss, however, ends the drama immediately and hands the division to Dallas.
And Week 17 will decide it.
The NFC East: Cowboys or Washington?
DALLAS COWBOYS VS. TENNESSEE TITANS
NFC East Title • No. 1 Seed • First-Round Bye
Dallas controls its destiny.
Beat Tennessee, and the Cowboys win the NFC East.
Simple enough.
But if Dallas loses and Washington beats Arizona, the two teams finish tied—and that’s where the Madden 2001 tiebreaker system comes into play.
The Cowboys and Washington split their head-to-head meetings, so that doesn’t settle it.
Instead, the division record becomes the deciding factor.
Washington owns the better division record.
So if Dallas loses and Washington wins, Washington takes the NFC East.
That means the Cowboys may be sitting in first place right now, but they aren’t quite ready to start printing those division-championship T-shirts.
The Race for the No. 1 Seed
And then there’s the biggest prize in the NFC:
The No. 1 seed.
The first-round bye.
The right to sit at home while everyone else beats the hell out of each other in the opening round of the playoffs.
There are two teams still alive for it.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have the clearest path.
Win at Tennessee and they’re the No. 1 seed.
It doesn’t matter what happens elsewhere.
Dallas can also secure the top seed without winning, but the scenario gets considerably more complicated: the Cowboys need both the Rams and Washington to lose.
So Dallas controls its destiny.
St. Louis Rams
The Rams have their own straightforward route.
Beat New Orleans and have Dallas lose, and St. Louis takes the No. 1 seed.
The Rams would finish tied with Dallas in conference record, but with no head-to-head meeting to settle the matter, Madden’s tiebreaker system moves deeper into the common-games and strength-of-victory categories.
And that’s where St. Louis holds the advantage.
So the situation is pretty simple:
Dallas wins, Dallas gets the bye.
Dallas loses and St. Louis wins, St. Louis gets the bye.
There isn’t much room for error.
The Week 17 Games That Matter
Cowboys at Titans
Dallas is playing for the NFC East title and the No. 1 seed.
A Cowboys victory settles both questions.
ST. LOUIS RAMS VS. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
The Rams need a win—and a Dallas loss—to claim the No. 1 seed.
St. Louis needs to take care of business in New Orleans and then hope Tennessee can do something very important:
Beat Dallas.
If both things happen, the Rams go from NFC West champions to the conference’s top seed.
The Wild Card Race: Three Teams, Two Spots
While the NFC’s top four teams are already guaranteed postseason football, the final two wild-card positions are still up for grabs.
And three teams remain alive:
Tampa Bay — 8–7
Atlanta — 8–7
Detroit — 7–8
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Win and In
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS VS. GREEN BAY PACKERS
Win and the Buccaneers are in.
For Tampa Bay, the equation is beautifully simple:
Beat Green Bay, and you’re in.
Lose, however, and the Bucs will have to start scoreboard-watching.
They can still survive a loss if either Atlanta or Detroit fails to win.
But why make it complicated?
Just win.
Atlanta Falcons: Win and In
ATLANTA FALCONS VS. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Win and the Falcons are in.
Atlanta also has a straightforward path:
Beat Kansas City, and the Falcons are in.
A loss makes things considerably more complicated. If Atlanta falls, they’ll need help from the other two contenders.
In other words, the Falcons would rather not spend Sunday doing playoff mathematics.
Detroit Lions: Win + Help
CHICAGO BEARS VS. DETROIT LIONS
Detroit needs a win and help.
Then there’s Detroit.
At 7–8, the Lions have the toughest road to the postseason.
They must beat Chicago, and they need either Tampa Bay or Atlanta to lose.
That’s it.
Win + help = playoffs.
Lose, and the Lions are done.
And Then There Were Four
Of course, not everyone made it this far.
The New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers, and Minnesota Vikings have officially been eliminated from playoff contention.
No tiebreaker drama.
No last-second miracle.
No Madden mathematical insanity.
Their 2001 seasons are over.
For everyone else, the postseason is just one week away.
Week 17: Everything Is Still on the Table
So here we are.
The NFC West is settled.
Green Bay is already a division champion.
Four teams are already guaranteed playoff football.
But the NFC East still needs a champion.
The No. 1 seed and first-round bye are still available.
And three teams are fighting for two wild-card spots.
Cowboys at Titans.
Rams at Saints.
Buccaneers at Packers.
Falcons vs. Chiefs.
Bears at Lions.
Five games.
And a whole lot of postseason consequences.
The AI Maddeness regular season has reached its final week.
Week 17. This is what Madden football was built for.
Don’t go anywhere.
AI Maddeness 2001 is a fictional season played on Madden NFL 2001 for PlayStation. All standings, playoff scenarios, tiebreakers and results are from the AI Maddeness universe.